Rendering is a computer process for creating photo-realistic images (2D or 3D). When you start a game, it checks the details of your graphics card and sees which of the processes can be initiated.
However, sometimes, more commonly with Skyrim, the game is not able to read the video card correctly in the selected resolution and display the message Failed to initialize renderer on the screen.
On encountering this error message, you won’t be able to use the game’s features fully.
The complete error message reads as:
“Failed to initialize renderer. Your display doesn’t support the selected resolution. Please set a different resolution in Skyrim’s Launcher under ‘Display Settings’.”
This problem can be caused due to several reasons like an outdated version of the Graphics card driver, missing or corrupted game files, faulty or corrupted hardware or drivers, an older version of the Operating System, etc.
Effective Procedures to Resolve Skyrim Failed To Initialize Renderer
In this segment, we are going to share seven possible fixes that will help you to fix the Skyrim Failed to initialize renderer error on the device.
The following fixes should help to overcome this problem. Therefore, follow and implement them as instructed below:
Fix 1 # Restart the Computer
The first thing that you should do is restart your computer. After restarting the computer, check if the problem still appears or not. To restart, follow these steps:
- Close the game.
- Switch off the system by pressing on the Power button and then wait for a few minutes and then turn it back on.
- After restarting the device, open the game and then check if the problem is solved or not.
Fix 2 # Launching the Game in Windows Mode
One of the effective solutions by which you can get rid of the Skyrim Failed to initialize renderer error message on the device is to launch the game in Windows mode. The following steps will help you:
- Launch the Skyrim launcher.
- In the Skyrim launcher window, click on Options.
- From the Skyrim Options, tick the box next to the Windows Mode at the bottom left corner.
- You can also change the resolution and then click on the Apply option to save the changes.
- Once you are done, open the game and then check if the error message still persists or not.
Fix 3 # Remove the Game Files
Deleting the game preferences from the system and then launching the game might work in fixing this issue. Here are the steps that you can follow to do so:
- Exit the Game and Steam application from the system.
- Navigate to the path: C Drive > Programs Files > Steam.
- In the Steam folder, locate the Appcache folder, right-click on it. After that, select the Delete button to remove it.
- Navigate to the following path: C Drive > Users > Your Name > Documents > My Games.
- From My Games folder, find the Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini folder, select them and then press the Delete button from the keyboard.
- After doing these steps, reboot your system and then open Skyrim to check if it resolves the problem or not.
Fix 4 # Update the Mods and Install the Latest Patches
If you are using various mods in the game then turn them off or remove them. After that, open the game and then check if the error still appears or not.
If the Skyrim Failed to initialize renderer error is still showing, then download the latest patches from the official website. Game developers release some updates to solve some problems. Therefore, you need to check if any updates are available for the game or not.
If yes, then download it and solve this issue on your device. Once you are done, reboot the system and then try to open the game.
Fix 5 # Install the Latest Version of the Graphics Card Driver
If the Graphics card driver is not updated properly then you can face this problem on your device. Therefore, you need to keep the driver up to date. Here’s how to do that:
- Press the Windows Home button + X to launch the WinX menu list and then select Device Manager.
- From the Device Manager, locate the Display Adapters section, select it to expand.
- After that, right-click on the Graphics Card driver and then choose the Update Software Driver option to start the update process.
- Once the update process is complete, reboot your computer and then check if the issue is solved or not.
Fix 6 # Update the Operating System
In order to stop this problem from appearing, it is necessary to keep the system up to date. To do that, follow the undermentioned steps:
- Hit the Windows Home key and then click on the Settings icon.
- When the Settings window opens, go to the Update & Security section and then select the Update tab.
- In the Update tab, click on the Check for updates option to check for the available updates.
- If an update is available, you will get an option Update, click on it.
- After completing the update process, the device will automatically restart.
Fix 7 # Reinstall the Graphics Card Driver
After performing the above solutions if the Skyrim Failed to initialize renderer error still arises then you can try to reinstall the Graphics Card driver on the system. Go through these directions:
- Press the Start button and R key to launch the Run box.
- Type devmgmt.msc and then click on the OK button or hit the Enter button.
- When you are in the Device Manager window, locate the Display Adapters section, select it to expand.
- Find the Graphics Card driver, right-click on it and then select the Uninstall Device option from the menu list.
- Once the uninstallation process is complete, restart your computer and then reinstall it.
- To install it, go to the Device Manager window and then click on the Scan for hardware changes icon at the top of the menu bar.
- Now the system will check the driver and then install it automatically.
- After installing the driver, reboot the device and then check to see if Skyrim works correctly without any error.
These are the fixes you need to try to get rid of the Skyrim Failed to initialize renderer error on your Windows 10 device.
